Spa on Caribbean Princess

[joan24]

I hope this doesn't post twice. I just checked my cruise personalizer and the hot stone massage that was booked at $80 for 50 minutes has changed to $175 for 75 minutes. This is the most expensive hot stone massage that I have ever seen on any cruise line. If you booked spa treatments, please check your personalizer to see if the price has more than doubled like mine. I guess Steiner has taken over the Lotus Spa.

Joan

[zurmoly]

I booked a spa treatment yesterday for 80.00 (port day)..now it is listed as 104.00 I am calling.

[zurmoly]

So after being on hold for 20 minutes I was told the prices are going up because Steiner is taking over the spa services. I said that I think if you book a service online at a certain price, they should honor that price. Of course the "supervisor" was not in but they will call me back. I also had printed out the confirmation with the lower price. We will see.

[zurmoly]

I have been called and yes, I will have to pay the higher price...How NOT FAIR is that!

[joan24]

I can understand a little raise in prices. No way can I understand more than doubling the original price. It won't do me any good, but I plan to take my confirmation on the personalizer that says $80 and go to the spa and complain. Somehow, I don't think it will do me any good.

Joan

[bdjam]

Since pre-booking spa treatments wasn’t a Steiner feature – it was only for the ships where Steiner wasn’t – I wonder how much longer they’ll accept reservations this way…

[MrBill64]

I can understand a little raise in prices.

Well I for one CANNOT understand a little raise in prices (no anger toward Joan here :) ) once you have already booked something at a certain price. I too booked the hot stone massage for my wife at $80 and so far my personalizer still says $80. If they cannot honor prices that are quoted when the service is booked, then why bother having the prices listed at all. If Princess can't honor prices 120 days out, then they shouldn't offer pre bookinng of services that far in advance. And finally, if Princess decides to change who is providing the services AFTER these services have been booked then the new provider needs to honor the old bookings.

 

Looks like if they don't honor the original price, I will have to grab my bic lighter and a few rocks and start working my magic hands on my wife ;) .

 

Bill

[AliceJ]

Thanks for the heads-up. I just checked my cruise personalizer for my trip in April and:

 

My 50 minute Swedish massage for $100 is now

a 25 minute 1/2 body Swedish massage for $72.00:eek:

 

My 30 minute Rasul experience for 2 at $130.00 is now

a 50 minute Rasul experience for 1 at $83.00

 

Isn't not honoring the original price for a pre-reserved service a little thing called fraud? Is Princess looking for a class action law suit??

 

If anyone is inclined to call Princess and complain (as I will be doing shortly), please do!! Perhaps if they get enough complaints, they will either honor the original price or provide some sort of shipboard credit.

 

Poor decision on the part of Princess. It is decisions like this that make me want to switch to Celebrity.:rolleyes:

 

Happy weekend to all!

 

Alice

[bdjam]

While I don’t condone the practice of not honoring existing reservations, Steiner has re-taken the Princess run spas – the only ones where you can make online reservations. It’s possible that the change over has caused these issues and should be approached that way.

I mentioned this above, but no one has seemed to notice.

[MrBill64]

bdjam, I agree with you that the changeover has caused this to happen. But I also said in my original post that if Princess changes who provides the service, the original bookings should be honored by the new vendor. Princess needed to make sure all prior bookings needed to have price protection when Princess changed vendors. If Princess did not make this a stipulation then Princess is at fault.

 

Hey, it's not a deal breaker for me as far as my cruise is concerned and you won't find me looking for a lawyer ;) . I will complain as soon as my personalizer is changed and if I am not satisfied, I will not use the service at the new price.

 

Bill

[AliceJ]

While I don’t condone the practice of not honoring existing reservations, Steiner has re-taken the Princess run spas – the only ones where you can make online reservations. It’s possible that the change over has caused these issues and should be approached that way.

 

I mentioned this above, but no one has seemed to notice.

 

bdjam:

 

I completely understand your point. However, Princess has handled this in an extremely poor manner and should have made some allowance for passengers with existing reservations. Additionally, they not only changed the price, but also the services I reserved. The fact that I had to find this out on my own and that they did not bother send any notification that there had been a change in service as well as price speaks poorly of their view of their passengers (who are, ultimately, their customers).

 

Hope you're in a snow storm-free zone this weekend!

 

Alice

[spongerob]

Even $80 sounds like a lot of money to have someone press hot rocks on my skin. I'd like to meet the marketing genius that thought this one up. It's probably the same person that thought up bottled water.

[zurmoly]

When I called they told me that they were very sorry but they would not adjust the price. I told them it is not the price it is the 80.00 charged being switched to 104.00 WITH OUT my knowing. And don't you know right after I called I had an email from the spa saying they have recently made some minor changes and my pre selected treatment may have changed. Please visit the spa when you board...........GRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUH

[AliceJ]

:( Just got off the phone with customer service. The very nice woman who was trying to help me said that she had no idea why my spa services/price were changed, and at least tried to find out. She said she needed to talk to the Lotus Spa people, and they are gone until tomorrow. We'll see what happens when I call then.

 

Zurmoly, I just got the same e-mail today. There is NO WAY I'm waiting 'til I'm on board to talk to these people. It may do me no good, but I really feel the need to let Princess customer service hear from me directly, and not be pushed off onto the spa staff on board who will no doubt be inundated with extremely p.o.'d people.

 

Hey, if they don't make this right with me somehow, I'll just take my spa money to the Elizabeth Arden spa right around the corner from my house!!:D

 

One thing with cruise planning and cruise message boards... it's never dull!!

 

Alice

[joan24]

It is not listed anywhere that prices are subject to change. This is really annoying to me.

Joan

[zurmoly]

Yes I was connected to the spa people. She said that if I wanted to I could call customer service. Does anyone have an email for them? I will very nicely let them know how I feel..If we get the email we can all do it the same day.

[SPHR Gal]

I pre-reserved 2, 80-minute deep tissue massages, I received today an email stating they had modified our reservations.

 

What were 2 $149.00, 80-minute deep tissue massages are now 2 Lotus Aisan Rituals for $237.00 a piece. I attempted to go on the personalizer and re-book the 50 minute deep tissue massages and couldn't find acceptable times. I will call customer service and attempt to have them exchange my modified services...I'm not sure how this equates to a deep tissue massage...?

 

...{Lotus Aisian Ritual | 110 Min

Embark on a journey to sensory heaven from the soles of your feet to the tingling top of your scalp! Combining the Japanese Silk Booster Facial for skin vitality with our sublime Well-Being Massage this ritual will refresh your spirit and strengthen your vital energies. Also available with Japanese Silk Eye Zone Therapy.}....

 

This is our first cruise and to say the least I'm slightly annoyed...:(

SPHR Gal

[zurmoly]

The spa is being taken over by Steiner services. They have changed most of the spa treatments listed before to the ones Steiner offers. After checking them all yesterday, they did this today.

[MoreCruise]

one thing I don't understand is why they would change a 50 minute full body swedish massage into 25 minute half body, when the 50 minute massage is only a bit more expensive ($109USD). But the "Sea essence duet" is now changed to "Exotic Lime & Ginger Salt Glow & Well-Being Back Massage" and is $141.00 !!

 

I wonder what happened to all those employees, when did their contacts end?

[joan24]

To those who have received emails, when are your cruises. We leave on Jan.29 and I haven't heard from anyone. What is the number for Princess Customer Service? I would love to call them. When I saw the article about Steiner taking over the Spa, it said that they would take over in May.

Joan

[zurmoly]

I am cruising next month.

[MoreCruise]

I'm cruising on the 29th, and everything's already changed on the Princess Cruise Personalizer (enter your name and booking number on the Princess.com site). I've already changed my services back from the 25 minute massage to a 50 minute massage (what I originally booked) at a different time.I got my email at 6:28pm on Friday the 21st.

[Ella2]

This is REALLY a shame. :( One of the things I love the MOST about the Caribbean Princess in December was my 80-minute hot stone massage; it was absolutely the best hot stone massage I ever had, and a BARGAIN at a port day price of $149, including gratuity!

 

I think it's terrible that Steiner has taken over; I really thought the Princess-run spa was a GREAT selling feature for the two ships that had it. The spa seemed plenty busy when I was there and the staff was excellent. Steiner must have cut Princess some awesome deal; I just can't understand why else Princess would mess with something that I thought worked well. :cool:

[zurmoly]

Diito, Ella. Steiner is on Celebrity ships and never impressed me much.

[maryr65]

I read on the boards about the change over to Steiner, but I thought it said that would not be happening until May. If that's true certainly any spa reservations before May should be honored at the old price. Then again this should apply to any of the services already booked. Bait and switch anyone?